Clay Hands
by FriendlyMushroom
Summary: Due to Sokka’s and Toph’s pranks toward the Avatar, Toph is about to lose her job at the Jasmine Dragon, so Sokka thinks of a plan to help her in her job, playing with clay. Tokka, rated 7 by judges at Tokka Week in Spanish… blame my poor grammar.


Clay Hands

Last translated work of the week, I'm afraid I was unable to do more, anyway, this one may have OOC mostly Aang's, but well I wanted to have fun and make fun of the Avatar, just read an enjoy it.

I don't own Avatar the last Airbender.

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**Clay Hands****.**

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**"Katara!" The doors of the famous tea shop 'The Jasmine Dragon' were slammed open thanks to the powerful tempest of bended air the young Avatar had launched toward them, the clients over the place glared at the avatar in annoyance due to the now more than usual scene. "Where are you hiding Zuko!?" The new Fire Lord was just coming out from the back of the tea shop, carrying some tea cups for the many clients around the place as his part time job until the reconstruction of the damaged territories over the Fire Nation was over, once he noticed the Avatar, Zuko took a deep breath and placed the cups at the counter and waited to be attacked with what now was usual. "Stay away from my girlfriend!"

An airbending kick was launched toward Zuko who never tried to avoid the attack and so was launched inside of the kitchen as usual, the sound of broken tea cups invaded the place, followed by a strong yell from uncle Iroh. "I have had enough! This had gone too far! I have no patience left!" Uncle Iroh came out of the kitchen, his apron covered with spilled tea and his eyes shining with fury.

"Don't get mad at the avatar uncle, we all know who are the responsible." The uncle Iroh nodded in agreement but Aang, blinded by his rage launched himself toward Zuko and began attacking, Zuko took a defensive posture, a huge battle could have exploded right there, but fortunately a river came out from the kitchen, soaking them both.

"Do you mind quitting this arguing!? If you haven't noticed you are bothering our clients!" Aang's eyes filled themselves with tears after seen Katara; he hid his staff and ran toward her, hugging her strongly. "Oh please not again, what did they tell you this time?"

"Katara! Sokka told me you and Zuko were planning to run together! Please tell me it isn't true! Don't you love me anymore!?" Katara took a deep breath, everyone in the room finally went back to tea drinking ignoring everything that was going on, just then a sweet laughter was heard at the distance, Toph was gasping for air and found herself unable to hold her laughter, just like she did every time Aang attacked the tea shop to beat the hell out of Zuko.

"I can't hold it anymore! This is too much! Great job Sokka!" Sokka walked inside of the tea shop, he was also clutching with laughter and was having a hard time trying to breath. "He thought it was true! He even began crying!"

"Fooling the Avatar is way past easy! I wish you could see his face when I told him that lie! He didn't even allow me to finish! He just ran out of home crying and yelling my sister's name around all Ba Sing Se!" Aang cried even harder, Katara and Zuko both exchanged looks, the good and old uncle Iroh was horribly angry at them both and so he took Sokka and Toph by the ears and pulled them strongly. "Ouch! Hey! We aren't kids anymore!"

Uncle Iroh ignored them both as they tried hard to get free from the ear pulling without any result, although it was Katara the one scolding the couple of troublemakers. "Enough with the pranks over poor Aang, he is no longer able to notice the difference between a prank or honest talking, what kind of friends do you think you are?"

"Then… you are not running away with Zuko?" Katara ignored her jealous boyfriend and placed both hands at her hips, she was horribly mad at her brother and at her supposed best friend for the troubles they constantly broke at Iroh's tea shop.

"Toph, I warned you many times about this young lady! You may be my best employee but your pranks have gone too far, you will have to pay for each cup you and Sokka had broken, you will work for free for the next two months." Toph was angered by that last, although she knew she deserved the punishment. "You both are always making fun of the young Avatar, you just enjoy taking advantage of his innocence, it is about time you two leave those games aside and in order for you to understand your lesson, if any of you bothers Aang ever again you will be fired."

"What!? I don't want to be fired! I love my job!" Iroh finally set them both free, both rubbed their wounded ears after been released. "Fine, I will pay my debt, and no more jokes, what a bother, I just wanted to share some fun with the rest of the habitants of this boring city and how do they pay me? Pulling my ear and placing my job in the line, so unfair." Toph stormed away from them all and locked herself at the kitchen.

"And you Sokka! Get out of my tea shop before I forbid you from ever setting foot inside of my business!" Sokka tripped with his crutches and fell to the ground, hitting his mended leg hard and hurting himself. "You both are a pain sometimes, if you are bored then look for something you can spend your free time with instead of causing troubles at my tea shop." Sokka nodded in agreement and left the tea shop crawling since he was having a hard time standing up, Iroh just walked toward his clients and apologized, giving them all a free tea cup for the bother.

Once Sokka was finally able to stand up he made his way toward the back of the store, where the usual window was open, he smiled to himself while staring at the young and blind girl washing the remaining tea cups while being immersed in a depressive state. "Need a little help?"

"Cut if off Sokka, I know it is fun to bother Aang all the time but you hear uncle Iroh, one prank and I'm fired, and this job is all I have, if I lose my job my parents will force me to go back home." Sokka nodded but despite the warning he made his way inside of the shop from the window, which wasn't an easy task and he ended up slamming the floor once again. "Are you deaf? Sokka you will make me lose my job!"

"Come on Toph, it isn't fair you are the one scolded because of something I did, it was me the one lying to Aang, at least let me help you wash some cups, you can sweep the broken ones meanwhile, remember you walk barefoot you need to be careful with what you step on." Toph took a deep breath but nodded in agreement; she took her sweeper out and began cleaning the room. "Ya know? Perhaps uncle Iroh is right, maybe we should look for an activity to spend our free time, I would train my sword skills but that won't be possible with my leg in its current state.

"I won't fall as low as to start a ridiculous jewelry selling business just like Aang did, I just want to keep my job Sokka… although I must admit that life is boring once my turn is over… and I can't work full time periods because of my age… also, there is nothing much left to do other than bothering Aang when my turn is over… you win, what do you have in mind as an activity?" Sokka was about to say something when he heard uncle Iroh walking inside of the kitchen and so Sokka jumped out of the window to prevent been discovered, once again hurting his broken leg.

"What was that yell?" Toph smiled softly as her only answer while uncle Iroh stared at her carefully. "You can go home once you are done with the cleaning Toph, but I will be waiting for you at first hour next morning, and remember, no joking around; my clients are already getting tired of them." Toph nodded in agreement and kept sweeping the place, she was still depressed about her current situation, Iroh noticed it, and despite his anger he placed his hand on Toph's shoulder like trying to cheer her up. "You are a nice girl Toph, you work really hard and are nice with our clients, you are rude sometimes and stubborn, but most of the clients enjoy your company… but despite all that… I'm starting to worry about your friendship with Sokka, he isn't at all a nice influence for you… he is a good guy but is immature, he only thinks about war and breaking havoc, he isn't the kind of person you need by your side."

"The kind of person I need by my side?" Iroh said no more, he just left the room with a soft smile drawn on his face, Toph just resumed her cleaning without paying attention to Iroh's words, and once she was done with the cleaning she finally took her apron off and left the tea shop, she was tired because of all the cleaning and just wanted to have fun starting a rumor about Zuko and Katara in order to bother Aang as was usual, but her job was in the line.

"What took you so long?" Sokka was waiting for her at the front door, Toph lowered her face, normally she enjoyed Sokka's company, but not this time, she was tired and Sokka's ideas would just give her something to worry about. "Listen, I think I found a way to waste our free time and save you from your debt toward uncle Iroh."

"Sokka, I'm tired, I know you have the best of intentions but… maybe uncle Iroh is right and you are a bad influence, just go home please." Sokka was offended by that last comment form his friend but despite that he placed one of his crutches on her way, cutting her march. "Why do you enjoy torturing me?"

"Torturing you? Toph, I'm your best friend, I would never prank you, I'm been serious, the answer to all our troubles is in the clay." Toph raised an eyebrow after hearing Sokka's words, he just smiled proudly. "Clay may not be as good as porcelain but it is easier to work with and it takes less time to dry, we can do some new cups and replace the one we broke, it will be fun."

"Sokka, I appreciate your concern but it is already enough, for once in my life I would like to do things the right way." Sokka took one of Toph's hands, allowing one of his crutches to hit the ground and then began doing faces toward her trying to convince her. "Quit facing me that way, you know I can't see your expressions." He continued despite the obvious. "Stop it Sokka, you are just making a fool of yourself, I can't see you." Sokka ignored her and continued. "You win… quit making a fool of yourself… what do I have to do?"

"Simple, just play with some clay!" Toph had no choice left, and so she followed Sokka back to one of the many stores at the proximities, once there, Sokka paid to be allowed to use the tools of the place and took a sit at his work station, the place was almost empty with the exception of a few old couples that were molding some clay made jars, Toph wasn't convinced about Sokka's idea yet, but despite her doubts she took a sit next to him. "Come on Toph, it will be fun, all you have to do is play with the clay in front of you and mold it until you give it the form of a cup of tea, then we place the cups at the oven and that's all, one tea cup less, how many do we need to replace?"

"…175…" Sokka's jaw dropped, he then took a shovel and walked toward some kind of clay full wheelbarrow where the clay was placed, and using the shovel as a huge spoon he took a good amount of clay and placed it on their table.

"This will probably take longer than what I though, so… let's get our hands clayty! Get it!? Hands claity, ya know like hands dirty but instead of dirty it is claity… because of the clay… fine it wasn't as funny as I imagined…" Despite the lack of humor on Sokka's joke, Toph couldn't help but laugh softly. "You laughed! I knew it was funny! Let's get our hands claity!"

"That's enough Sokka, it wasn't funny… but I must admit this may not be such a bad idea after all." Toph tried using her bending abilities on the clay and give it some shape, but the clay seemed to refuse cooperating. "What's wrong? I never had problems bending anything before."

"It is clay Toph, its properties are different than the ones of common earth, it is just normal you are unable to bend it, you will have to do it manually." There was some logic in Sokka's words but Toph knew she could control clay, despite the estrange properties the clay had it was still earth and minerals, and if she was able to bend metal clay shouldn't be that different. But despite everything, Toph limited herself to use her hands. After a while Sokka managed to finish his first tea cup, he was proud of his creation although it was a horrible tea cup. "Done! I finished the first one, how about you Toph?"

"I lost the count around fifty-something… something got my attention back then…" Sokka blinked twice after staring at the huge number of tea cups of different styles arranged all around the work table, some even had beautiful carvings only a blind person could create, the elders around the room where surprised, even the owner was surprised. "This isn't as hard as I thought, it is like earthbending… only that I don't use bending… and this isn't real earth… but I wonder why I can't bend it?"

"That's not important at all; just look at all these cups!" Toph punched Sokka softly. "Sorry… you are pretty good at this, perhaps you should start a cup selling business, you only need to paint them and done."

"…Paint them…? How am I supposed to do that if I can't even see?" Sokka placed his arm around Toph's shoulders in a friendly way, although Toph showed herself embarrassed at the action.

"Let me handle the coloring part, I may not be that good at drawing but I'm a paint-bending-master!" Toph took a good amount of clay in her hands and launched it toward Sokka's face due to his boldness when hugging her; Sokka was unable to understand the reasons of her attack at all. "Hey! If you don't want me to paint your cups you just have to say it! There is no reason to be this hostile!"

"It isn't about the cups of tea! You just hugged me!" Sokka was still unable to understand it, there was nothing wrong with hugging her, but Toph was embarrassed, she was blushing madly. "I… I'm sorry… I'm just… not that used to this kind of things."

"But we had had many group hugs before." Toph nodded in agreement but she was still unable to understand the reason of her embarrassment. "Man, I have clay all around my hair… and all around my face… it is going to take me a while to clean it all off." Toph was embarrassed by her actions, and so she took a handkerchief from out of her work uniform and placed it on top of Sokka's face, then she began cleaning his face, one of her fingers touched Sokka's skin by accident but then she blushed even more. "I can clean my own face, thank you very much, allow me to…" Sokka was about to take the handkerchief when Toph used her free hand to slap his hand out of the way.

Sokka was unable to understand her actions at first, but then he felt Toph's hand moving around his face, she wasn't cleaning his face, she was rubbing it, drawing a mental image of his face inside of her mind, memorizing Sokka's facial forms, 'looking' at him with full detail until she finally came back to reality, her skin colored itself with a reddish blush, Sokka was too close to her as to notice it. "Ah! Wha-what am I doing!? So-Sokka!" Toph stood up and was about to run away when Sokka took her hand, cutting her escape

"Toph! Wait! You… you wanted to see me… didn't you?" Toph placed her free hand at her chest, feeling her heart beat running faster with each passing second, the few old couples inside of the room walked away with huge smiles on their faces, even the owner of the shop left allowing them to have some privacy. "If you really want to see me, you just have to do it; you are my best friend Toph… I… I want you to see my face…"

Sokka placed Toph's hand back at his face so she would continue with her exploration, she gulped hard as a reply, and after a few minutes she moved her shaking hands around his face, but only for a few seconds before stopping. "…How… how do I know I'm seen you correctly…?" Sokka smiled softly and took Toph's free hand, placing it at the clay; Toph felt a wave of electricity hitting her body, running through her spine, and a burning sensation hitting her chest. "Sokka… this… this isn't right… I shouldn't…"

But Toph's words were interrupted, the girl was no longer able to say anything else, her lips were busy pressing the ones of the young man in front of her. Sokka had just kissed her, it was something Toph had always dreamed with, and now it wasn't just a dream, it was a reality, Sokka pushed himself away from her slowly, waiting for her reaction and after not having a reply, he kissed her once again, this time tasting her even more, kissing one of her lips first, enjoying it, and then kissing the other one. Toph finally reacted and kissed him back with inexperience, but only for a second before pulling herself away nervously and intimidated by the feelings she was now experimenting, feelings that were stealing her breath. "You taste like clay."

"You… you… you kissed me? But I'm your best friend! Friends don't do those kinds of things! So-Sokka… I don't know what to say… I don't know what to do…" Toph's head was burning due to the strong blush on her face, something Sokka was awfully glad for, in order to answer her question; he placed her hand once again at his face and waited for her reaction. "I want to see you… I want to see you more than ever… I want to… see you for the first time… why am I feeling this way?"

"Maybe because you feel the same way I feel for you." Toph was already having a hard time breathing, she was also shaking a lot, feeling weak by the presence of the person she was trying to see. "Show me how you see me."

Toph nodded and with her free hand began molding Sokka's face in the clay, been careful in extreme with the details, drawing Sokka with the cold clay in her hands. "I can see you." Once again her chest burned her, her breathing speeded up, and sweat began covering her face, Toph had no longer any control over her emotions. "What is going on with me?" Sokka smiled when noticing the clay figure winning some shape, Toph was drawing him perfectly, and the only thing that was left was his lips.

"Maybe you haven't seen me that well yet… you are missing an important part." Toph breathed heavily as she prepared her lips for what she knew was coming, Sokka's lips were now pressed against hers once again and he was hugging her hard, Toph was feeling even weaker with each passing second, but that was no longer of importance. "Toph… do you still think I'm a bad influence?"

Toph stuttered for a few seconds, but after a last kiss from Sokka, she was finally able to answer him back. "…You are the worst influence in my life… but I love you that way… I want to remain by your side…" Sokka kissed her forehead and then hugged her hard, Toph was finally able to understand why was she unable to earthbend, it was because she was feeling weak by been by Sokka's side, but that no longer bothered her, actually, she wanted to be a little girl in love with her best friend instead of an arrogant and lonely earthbending master. "And all this was possible because of some broken tea cups."

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Personally, this fic was one of my favs, and yeah it was rushed at the end but that's because I was running out of time for the ten fics posting at Tokka Week in Spanish, but I can't complain, anyway, thanks for reading and see ya next week with more translations and perhaps a new cap for 'The Game'


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